Is your air conditioner acting up lately? Do you feel that it is not providing as much cold air as expected? Is it taking too much time to cool the room? If yes, then they are signs that the air conditioner needs recharging. It can be the most expensive air conditioner of the decade but that does not mean it will run faultlessly for years. The most common problem of air conditioners is they run out of gas. This means it loses the capacity to cool down the room quickly and it can lead to several other problems too. If you are encountering such problems, you need to get in touch with a professional as soon as possible.
The easiest way to understand if your air conditioner needs recharging is feeling the cool air. When the air conditioner emits relatively warm air instead of the normal cold air, it is time that you get it recharged. There are other signs too that will help to understand if the air conditioner requires an immediate recharging. Here are some of those symptoms listed below:
The AC Does Not Cool Your Room
This is the most common symptom and is very easy to identify the lack of gas in the AC. It happens when the refrigerant in the AC is not able to absorb the heat from the inside of the room. This automatically keeps the AC running non stop without being able to cool the room. You can call in the experts and get a second opinion though. But, when a thing like this happens, in 99% of the cases, the AC would be running low on refrigerant.
The Vents Emit Warm Air
You must have seen the vents that emit the cold air from the AC. You may have also stood in front of those vents after coming back from the scorching heat just to cool down. But, what if those vents started emitting warm air instead of cold and you get really uncomfortable? When the AC does not have enough refrigerant, it can freeze inside and can turn into a block of ice. This block can block the smooth airflow and when this happens, it can not only reduce the amount of cold air that is emitted from the vents but also emit warm air.
There is a high possibility that the refrigerant lines outside will have ice on them. It is an extreme case though, but there is a chance of this happening. So, keep an eye out.
Electric Bills Gone Crazy
At the end of the month when you are about to pay the electric bills you find that almost half your salary is gone because of it. Wondering how that happened even though there was nothing extraordinary that took place recently? It can be because of your faulty air conditioner. You may not have realized the lack of cold air but when that happens it can lead to an increase in energy consumption of the AC. Before you have to borrow money to pay the electric bills, contact a technician and get the problem sorted. Otherwise, the bills would keep on coming and they would increase by leaps and bounds.
The AC Clutch Fails To Work
The AC has a clutch that works in tandem with the pressure switch. So, when you set the AC to its minimum temperature, the clutch gives a clicking sound. This means it is working with the pressure switch perfectly. Once the room cools down, the switch is deactivated and that happens with the clutch operating it. If the AC runs out of refrigerant, you will notice that there is hardly any clicking sound of the clutch. This is another way to understand that the AC needs recharging.
DIY Inspections At Home
Before calling in the experts, you can do a quick DIY check to make sure that the AC requires recharging and nothing else. Here are few DIY inspections that can be done without needing the help of a professional:
- Checking the filters – sometimes, the filters in the AC can get clogged because of too much dust and dirt. This may prevent the cold air from coming out. It is quite easy to clean the filters. You just need to open the front panel of the AC and take the filters out carefully. Clean them with soap and water and put them back. This can bring back the cold air that was missing.
- Checking the fan – the easiest inspection is to check if the fan of the AC is running as soon as you switch the AC on. If it is not running, then there must be something wrong with the motor. Call for professional help because it might lead to further problems with the AC.
- Check the leakage – AC’s can often leak because of multiple malfunctioning. It is easy to understand if there is a leak because your AC would make hissing sounds. The coolants leak because there is too much frost that builds on the motor and tubes. You should immediately get in touch with a professional if there is a leak because coolants are gases that can be harmful to you if they are not handled carefully.
Whenever there is something wrong with the AC, you should call in the experts for help. Apart from cleaning the filters, there is nothing more that you can do with the motor or the fan or the AC. The quicker you contact an expert, the quicker the AC will be recharged and fixed. You wouldn’t want to wait and see if something else goes wrong before contacting the professionals.
Recharging a home AC is not very expensive, to be honest. But, if you continue to keep it like that, there are several other problems that can arise and they can prove to be costly. So, be it the AC in your room or office or even your car, when you feel it is not cooling as it used to, get the experts into action quickly.